beyerdynamic SPACE review: An excellent speakerphone for home and business use

Video and conference calls have become more of a thing in recent years. Even with the COVID-19 scare done with, there are still people working from home. Working from home often comes with the need to video and audio call into meetings and conferences. While the speaker on your laptop or phone may be okay, having something with better performance is always a plus. That’s where the beyerdynamic SPACE comes in.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

This small table speaker handles video and audio calls with the beyerdynamic audio touch. The beyerdynamic is available in three colors and is portable, so as you move your office, it moves with you. Let’s jump into the full review of the beyerdynamic SPACE speakerphone.

The Quick Take

The beyerdynamic SPACE isn’t an earth-shattering idea. There are plenty of speakers and speakerphone products on the market already. But it does bring a quality of sound to the table that many basic speakerphone-type products don’t have.

For the average user, I don’t see this as a replacement for a good and more affordably priced Bluetooth speaker. But for the user who wants to listen to music sometimes and has a very high-quality speaker for video and audio calls, the beyerdynamic SPACE is excellent. It’s priced a bit high at $279, but you can find it on sale for significantly less, and the sale price is worth it.

Specifications

The beyerdynamic Space has the following features and specifications:

• Loudspeaker: 1.5-inch full-range speaker plus two passive radiators
• Max speaker output: 5W RMS
• Sound pressure level: SPL = 73.8 dBA (pink noise) SPLmax=81 dB @ 1 kHz
• Microphone type: MEMS x 4
• Microphone frequency range: 100Hz to 10kHz
• Speaker frequency range: 90Hz to 15kHz (-10dB)
• Supported profiles: HFP, A2DP
• Connection: Bluetooth and USB-C
• Bluetooth version: 5.0
• Bluetooth Frequency Range: 2.400 to 2.4835 GHz
• Audio codec: SBC
• Battery type: Lithium-ion
• Battery life: Up to 20 hours
• Charge connector: USB-C
• Charging time: 2.5 hours (5V/1.5A)
• Voice assistant: Siri and Google Assistant
• Dimensions: 132 × 132 × 40mm (L×W×H)
• Weight: 354g

What’s In The Box

• beyerdynamic SPACE
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• USB-C to USB-A adapter
• Carrying pouch
• Manuals and Documentation

Design

The beyerdynamic SPACE is simple in its design. No strange designs or weird things are going on here. This is a simple puck-shaped speaker that’s easily held in one hand.

The bottom of the speaker has four tiny rubber feet and a threaded mount, should you want to mount it on a tripod or other holding device. The USB-C to USB-A adapter also has a small resting place on the bottom. This is a nice touch, as these adapters can easily be misplaced, which is forward-thinking on the company’s part.

The perimeter of the beyerdynamic SPACE is surrounded by a lovely accent ring which gives the design some depth. The power button, USB-C charging/audio port, Kensington lock, reset button, and four microphones.

The top is covered with a piece of mesh fabric in three colors: Charcoal, Aquamarine, and Nordic Grey. We received the Charcoal version, but the Nordic Grey looks the nicest, in our opinion.

The top of the speaker is where all the business is done. There is an LED light ring that is surrounded by the controls. Here are the controls you will find on the top of the speaker:

• Multifunction Button
• Mute Button (red LED shows)
• Increase Volume (white LED shows)
• Decrease Volume (white LED shows)
• Hang Up (red LED displays)
• Call Pick Up (green LED displays)
• Battery Status Segmented (green/yellow/red shows)
• Bluetooth (blue LED displays)

The build quality of the beyerdynamic SPACE is great. It does not feel cheap or chintzy, and the company provides a carrying pouch to keep it mostly dust free and from banging around in your backpack on other things.

Overall, the design is pleasing, robust, and straightforward. Given that most who may purchase this will use it for work, it makes sense to make it simple.

Ease of Use

Like almost every Bluetooth speaker or headset I’ve ever used, you should first charge the beyerdynamic SPACE fully before first use. This will give you the best experience and help keep the battery healthy.

SPACE can be used via Bluetooth or connected to your PC or Mac using the USB cable provided in the box. Connecting it via Bluetooth is the same as any other Bluetooth speaker; turn it on, press the BT button, look for SPACE on your device, and click. There are two Bluetooth modes, business and normal. In business mode, only one device can be connected to SPACE, while normal mode allows up to eight devices to be connected.

Active connections are possible with up to two devices at a time. However, music and phone operation playback is only possible with one device at a time. Phone operation has priority over music playback; i.e., music playback is interrupted during phone calls.

Firmware updates are carried out via USB-HID using the beyerdynamic Update Hub. The unit has a firmware update function (DFU) via a USB connection to a PC (Windows and macOS). During the update process, the LED ring flashes magenta.

The volume and playback operations are straightforward, but there are plenty of functions on this speaker, so I’d highly recommend reading the user manual to understand the full functionality of the speaker. The image below gives you an idea of the number of functions the beyerdynamic SPACE has.

Overall, the beyerdynamic SPACE is straightforward in a roundabout way. There are a lot of functions to know, but this is far more than a regular speaker, so it makes sense.

Sound

When I do audio reviews, the sound section is generally very meaty, but this is a different sort of speaker, and my conclusions about its sound are super simple to understand.

As a business speaker and microphone, the beyerdynamic SPACE is fantastic. Voices are crisp and clear, and listeners on the other end can hear me clearly. The microphones work amazingly well, making this excellent for calls. The mics work so well you can even be a reasonable distance away from it, and it will pick you up, even walking around it.

As a straight speaker for music, it’s just okay. It’s certainly better than your PC or laptop speakers, but it’s not an audiophile speaker. BUT that’s okay. This isn’t intended to be a super cool audiophile speaker. It intends to deliver phenomenal microphone performance and voice quality. That it does; listening to music on it with relatively decent results is just a bonus.

Overall, the sound is exceptional as a business device, and listening to music that isn’t tinny and thin is a bonus.

Battery Life

Battery life on the beyerdynamic SPACE is advertised as 20 hours. This will be very dependent on how you use it, volume, distance from the source, and other factors. The LED light ring will indicate the battery level with the following colors:

• Red: Battery 0-25%
• Yellow: Battery 25-62.5%
• Green: Battery 62.5%-100%

Honestly, I had a hard time killing this thing with just voice calls, and playing music over it sounds better at lower volumes, 30-40% volume level, so killing it with music was also more challenging than other Bluetooth speakers.

Overall, I believe the 20-hour battery life claims here, and you could potentially get even more. This is one product where users will get wildly different battery life results due to how many ways it can be used.

Price/Value

The MSRP of the beyerdynamic SPACE is $279, which is a big oof! But this is a business device, and the quality of the microphones and speakers add a ton to its value. As of this review, you can find the SPACE on sale for $179; you can’t go wrong at that price.

Wrap Up

This is relatively straightforward:

• If you want an excellent Bluetooth speaker for music only: this is not it.
• If you want a very good Bluetooth speaker for music and a splendid conference speaker: this is a fabulous choice.

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Last Updated on March 13, 2024.